HRB Centre for Health and Diet Research

Study: http://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(14)01328-5/abstract Systematic qualitative literature review of health care workers’ compliance with hand hygiene guidelines In this podcast Barrie Tyner speaks with Infection Prevention and Control researcher and Health Protection lecture Maura Smiddy from UCC, Ireland. She is the lead author on a systematic review on health care workers’ compliance with hand hygiene guidelines guide. The study was published in the American Journal of Infection Control December 2015 breaks ground by taking a qualitative approach to tease out the barriers and influences to optimal compliance. Also in the podcast Maura talks about the upcoming Safe Patient Care conference which this year will have a strong focus on healthcare workers involved in the delivery of patient care in residential and long term settings. This years conference is at the Brookfield Health Science Building 1st & 2nd Sep 2016 Links to information mentioned in the podcast: Safe Patient Care conference 2016: https://goo.gl/MdiLDM Registration: Jennifer Coughlan / jennifer.coughlan@ucc.ie Conference twitter: https://twitter.com/SPC2016Cork #SafePatientCare Maura Smiddy featured in the Infection Control Today: http://goo.gl/BgdApU WHO multimodal hand hygiene improvement strategy: http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/70030

Full study can be found here: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=10324963&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S1368980016001105 Centre for Health and Diet Research: http://hrbchdr.com/ With an estimated 1 in 10 people in Ireland that have suffered from depression, it has been suggested that certain protective lifestyle behaviours such as having a healthy diet, being physically active, having a moderate alcohol intake and being a non-smoker, may be linked to positive mental health. Gillian Maher, UCC public health researcher, analysed data from over 2,000 people aged between 50 and 67 from North Cork as part of the Mitchelstown Cohort Study and found that people with more protective lifestyle behaviours (PLBs) had lower odds of having depressive symptoms. The cross-sectional study used the following PLBs: being a non-smoker, moderate alcohol consumption, being physically active and eating an adequate diet of fruit and vegetables. The study, published in the prestigious Cambridge Journal of Public Health Nutrition, found that overall 8% of people in the sample engaged in one protective lifestyle behaviour, 24% in two, 39% in three and just over 28% of all sampled engaged in four PLBs. The low numbers of people practising all four protective behaviours highlights the need for continued emphasis on encouraging and empowering people to make positive lifestyle behaviour choices. Applying this research into our daily behaviours around health and wellbeing, Ms Gillian Maher stresses that “it is not an all or nothing approach” and that “one is better than none, two is better than one etc” making the strong case that we should all engage in PLB as best as we can as any engagement is positive news for your mental health, and adds to our overall health. Key Findings: The odds of having depressive symptoms for those who engage in one or less PLBs, are over twice as high as those who engage in four PLBs, even after adjusting for age, gender, education and BMI. Only 28% of this population (50–69-year-olds) engage in four PLB. Those who engaged in all four PLB were more likely to be female, have a higher level of education, and were categorised as having no depressive symptoms. The sample was randomly selected from the Livinghealth Clinic in Mitchelstown with a catchment area of over 20,000 people. The cohort study was originally the Cork and Kerry Diabetes and Heart Disease Study which began in 1998. The main aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of major risk factors in a middle-aged population in Ireland and to estimate the number of people at high risk of heart disease. Phase II of the Cork and Kerry Diabetes and Heart Disease Study began in 2008, with support from the Health Research Board Centre for Health and Diet Research. Since beginning, it has produced over 25 publications on topics that range from diabetes to cardiovascular disease and from disability to macrocytosis (or the measure of average volume of red blood cells). Ms. Maher’s study adds an additional dynamic of mental health to the knowledge generated from this study. Many thanks go out to all those involved in the study, in particular the people of Mitchelstown and beyond who contributed selflessly to the richness of the ongoing study, and to the staff at the Livinghealth Clinic. More info on the Mitchelstown Cohort Study can be found here: http://group.hrbchdr.com/ More info on Gillian Maher: https://www.ucc.ie/en/mature/quercusscholarshipwinners2014/ Requests for more information: j.harrington@ucc.ie or 021 4205505 Original music kindly made by Fidgenti

Some links to more information on the work being carried out by the researchers featured in the podcast: Ms Kathy Ann Fox’s study: http://www.nuigalway.ie/media/healthpromotionresearchcentre/hprcannualreport2016/Awareness-of-Alcohol-Marketing.pdf Alcohol Action Ireland: http://alcoholireland.ie/ Alcohol Bill: http://alcoholireland.ie/home_news/what-is-the-public-health-alcohol-bill/ Ms Shelly Chakraborty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m9latUnwrc Community Profile app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iph-community-profiles-tool/id1112938732?mt=8 IPH Community Profile website: http://www.thehealthwell.info/community-profiles/ Prof Mary McCarran: http://www.idstilda.tcd.ie/ Audio from the Knowledge 4 Health conference 2016: https://soundcloud.com/iphireland/sets/the-islands-public-health (recommend listening to Eddie Rooney for an inspirational talk on the state of public health) Original music kindly made by Fidgenti

The importance of healthy food for a healthy mind & body. Dr Janas Harrington, Epidemiology and Public Health, UCC. www.hrbchdr.com Good source for healthy eating advice: www.safefood.eu Good source for labelling: www.fsai.ie/legislation/food_le…nformation-fic.html Labelling - Additives in particular: www.fsai.ie/faqs/additives/labe…g_requirements.html